The Guardians
by Kerith
Summary: AU and CC. Starts after Kyle gets shot and healed by Max. Destiny is not what it was and the humans are not what they seem, but the aliens don't seem to know it and neither do the humans. I suck at summaries but please read and review
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Try to sue me and the only thing you'll get is my Physics textbook. So try, please. Take my phsysics textbook, Please take it away Summary: This is CC. It takes place right when Kyle gets shot, so Destiny hasn't happened yet but there will probably be parts of Destiny in this. AN: This is my first fic so please be kind. But I love constructive criticism so please read and review. Thanks  
  
The Guardians  
Chapter 1  
The gun exploded. The seven Pod Squaders and the sheriff rushed into the room. The bullet sped across the room and slipped into Kyle's stomach. The others rused over to him, the sheriff yelling at Max to do something. As the connection between Max and Kyle flared to life for the first time and Max started to heal Kyle, none of the other aliens noticed the other three humans start to glow as a light shot out from both Kyle and Liz and connected the four. A connection was created and a rush of images, possibly memories, came into their minds amidst the flood of feelings of suprise and confusion that came from the four humans.  
When Max finished healing Kyle, the glowing stopped. Yet the connection stayed strong even after Max broke the connection between him and Kyle. By wordless agreement, the four humans decided to keep quiet about the connection and images until the four could talk about it together. Though whether this was from some outside force or within their subconsious, none of the four were sure. They simply nodded their heads in agreement when the non-human counterparts of the Pod Squad stated that they were all going to meet later to discuss the new deveopments. As they left the building, Maria, Alex and Liz remarked that they would be at Li's house trying to explain to Kyle what had happened in the last year, stating that most likely it would be easier for him to hear the story from someone who had gone through the shock of finding out that there are indeed aliens among us. However, little did the alines know that the non--extra- terrestrial meeting would be discussing something very different.  
The four humans sat in silence within the confines of Maria's Jetta, mulling over their own thoughts as well as some others which did not originate from their own brain. But once they reached Liz's house, all hell broke loose. 


	2. What Now?

Hi guys. I've had this part written for a couple of days, but I've been in this musical that has pretty much taken over my life, so I haven't had a chance to post it. But here it is now.   
  
Thanks for all the feedback  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except of course my Physics textbook. You're still welcome to it. Want it? Oh wait, no I have to keep that stupid thing, darn those AP exams.  
  
Okay here goes  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"What the hell was that?!!" shouted Maria at the top of her lungs.  
  
"Breath Maria. You're giving us a headache," said Liz as she sat Maria down on her bed.  
  
"How do you know that?" Maria asked sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah, Liz, how'd you know Maria was giving me a headache" Alex asked, confused.  
  
"Um you have a headache? I..I..I don't know, I just did!" Liz stated. The connection that was still going strong was obviously Czechoslovakian related and quite amazing, but frightening all the same. They had no clue why it was there, any idea as to the depth of the connection or what this new aline thing might do to them. However, throughout this exchange, Kyle had stayed strangely quiet. Liz noticed this and went over to him.  
  
"Kyle, are you all right? All of this has been thrust on to you kind of sudently."  
  
"Yeah, I'm alright, I sort of understand what's generally going on, it's just..."  
  
"You can sense them too can't you?"  
  
"They're half way across town and I can sense them! I can tell you exactly where they are, what they're doing and feeling... I don't understand what this is!" said Kyle, clearly frustrated.  
  
"I'm glad you can too, I thought I was going insane," Alex chimed in.  
  
"Why us though? Is it because of our relationships with the Czechs, if Michael's turned me into some weird alien thing, I'm gonna kill him. Or is it because Max healed Kyle and Liz? What if it's some weird alien virus that gets into our heads and makes us..."  
  
"Maria, you're rambling," Alex interrupted Maria's rant.  
  
"As much as Maria has a tendency towards incoherency, some what she said does make sense. Why us? And what about those images that we saw?" said Liz, with her scientific brain.  
  
"I think... I think that they're memories," said Kyle pulling out of his reverie, while the scene between the Three Musketeers played out.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well they're aliens, right? And they came out of those weird pods. What if they were reincarnated or something?" The others gave him blank looks. "Look, I read a little about Buddhism at football camp last year. Some of they guys are into it, and some of it just made sense. I guess, even more so now."  
  
"Okay... Well, whatever it is, we need a plan. Why don't we talk to the other three and see what they remember, since it doesn't seem like much. But be subtle!" Liz looked at Maria pointedly. "I'll talk to Max. Maria, you talk to Michael. And Alex, you go talk to Isabel. Just try to find out what they know. Oh and Kyle, you do some more research on reincarnation." Kyle groaned inwardly at the thought of research, and the others chuckled at his pain.  
  
"Wait, what about Tess?" Kyle didn't know the girl ver well. All that he really knew about her was that she was a part of the group of aliens. But, nonetheless he was intrigued.  
  
"I don't know, something's not right. I mean she's got all these memories of her being married to Max." (I don't remember when Tess started that annoying idea that she was married to Max on Antar, but let's pretend that it was before Destiny) Kyle looked up at Liz, startled.  
  
"I don't remember anything about those two being romantically involved." Referring to his new set of "memories."   
  
"My point exactly." There was silence around the room.  
  
"I'll go talk to her." said Kyle. Liz looked at him questioningly, but decided to drop the idea brewing in her head for now.  
  
"Okay so we each agreed to talk to one of the Czechs. I had another idea. If we can do the connection thing, is there anything else we can do?" The others looked up at Liz with this pronouncement. "I say we go out to the quarry and see if we have any powers." Maria and Alex were startled by this, but Kyle was the most confused by it. Powers? He had just learned there were aliens and now he might have powers? It was too much, but he felt some reassurance flow from the other three humans.  
  
"So I'll see you guys then." The others nodded and stood up to leave. Though unbeknownst to the four humans in Liz's room, Jeff Parker also go up from his place at the door where he was listenig and went down the stairs into the café. 


	3. The Messages

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I do have to keep my physics textbook but you can have my three, yes three, American History textbooks. Ooooo or my history teacher, can't stand the woman, no one can. Some of the lines used in this chapter are from "Destiny"  
  
A/N So I started this fic, not having seen Roswell in a really long time, and a few days ago I finally sat down and read the script. Wooops. I have a feeling you guys are confused about the whereabouts of Nasedo. Ok so here goes. After/while Nasedo helped to get Max out, he did not get hurt. Instead he went after a few agents, spliting up Pierce and some of the others that went after the Pod Squad. The PS ran until the whole Kyle thing happened, and after the humans split from the aliens, the aliens went off in search of Nasedo. So I hope you guys like this part. I'm really proud of it. It's definately my longest chapter thus far. Sorry I haven't posted recently. It's the last week before Spring Break (YAY!!!!). Anyway I'll be gone next week. ::Sniff:: no reading Roswell fanfic for Alex, but you can be assured that I'll be writing my butt off, so hopefully I'll have more than one part for you when I get back. Saturday at six in the morning I'm off to sunny Cancun! Away from cold, icky weather. But I'm rambling, I have a tendency to do that. Ask Dark Sorceress. Oh yeah, in this fic, Alex's mom left around the same time that Kyle's mom did. Hey it's my fic. I can do what I want with it.  
  
Magiklmoon Thank you as always for your support.  
  
Fallen Magic Thank you sooooo much for all your help. It's much appreciated.  
  
vecastone I'm glad you like it. I like writing it.  
  
So onwards we go  
  
Oh yeah Thoughts/sent(shared) thoughts are in italics. You'll get it. Don't worry.   
  
Chapter 3  
  
As they were standing up, the phone rang. Liz answered it.  
  
"Hello?" she asked, knowing who it was already.  
  
"Liz? It's Max. We found Nasedo. We need to get him to the pod camber to use the healing stones." Liz could feel Max's fear that all the alien strangeness was pushing her away and his need to include her in everything in his life.  
  
"We'll meet you there." And with that, she hung up the phone. "Guys, we're going to the pod chamber." Thoughts of agreement spread to each of their minds. The humans were getting more used to the connection, and the ability to communicate with it.  
  
As they filed downstairs, through the cafe, Jeff watched as they made their way to maria's Jetta. Once he was out of sight from the four, he too got into his own car and followed the Jetta out into the desert.  
  
***  
  
The four aliens stood around Nasedo, each with a glowing stone in his or her hands. The other watched on in awe. They could feel the energy pouring into the injured alien lying on the floor. The power hummed, resonating (sorry Rachelle, had to use it) throughout the room. The four humans could sense that some of the energy came from the alines themselves. But they could feel their own energy being pulled towards the healing stones, though something else was supplying most of the energy, somethig incredibly strong. And then it was over. The glowing power died and Nasedo sat up.  
  
"I knew you wouldn't leave us!" Tess cried as she ran to him, seeming to want to hug him. Nasedo just looked at her.  
  
"You're not ready to be left alone." Nasedo turned to Max.  
  
"You're right, we need you. Show us how the orbs work," said Michael. Nasedo did not even acknowledge that Michael had spoken.  
  
"They don't belong here." Nasedo said to Max.  
  
"They're with us. We want to know. You're the only one who can show us," Max retorted.  
  
"It's not my job to show you. My only job is to keep you alive."  
  
"Your job?"  
  
"Well if your only job is to keep us alive, then tell us. They're communicators. They communicate with who?" nasedo still did not look at Michael. He only continued to stare at Max. The others noticed this and shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"You're not ready to know yet." With each sentence, the four humans became more uncomfortable.  
  
"They communicate with our home planet, don't they? Why don't you want us to contact them?"  
  
"Because you don't know who else you may contact in the process."  
  
"Who else is there?" asked Isabel. Nasedo hesitated for a moment and glanced around the room before his eyes finally resettled on Max.  
  
"Set off those orbs, and you have no idea who you may be leading straight to us," Nasedo finally said.  
  
By this time, Max had had enough. "You don't know do you? You don't know how to use the orbs. If you knew you would've already used them. You're here to protect us, but not to lead us, you said it yourself. But if you're not the leader, who is?" The four humans, already subconciously knowing the answer looked at Max and then turned back to Nasedo. Nasedo noticed this, but said nothing. The other aliens continued to stare at Nasedo, as if commanding him to answer Max's question, but Nasedo remained silent, avoiding the question as he continued his speech against the use of the orbs. 'He's starting to sound like a broken record player' thought Kyle. The others snickered inwardly, but remained quiet..  
  
"If you really want to know what the orbs do, you can find out for yourselves, I can't stop you. But do it at your own risk.' Max decided to change the subject, accepting Nasedo's remark as a victory.  
  
"If you're really here to protect us, there's something you ahve to do . The only way we can ever go back is if nobody's hunting us anymore." Michael glanced at Max, startled.  
  
"Pierce is alread dead." Max continued to stare at Nasedo. To the four humans it seemed as though the two aliens were playing a game of Road Trip. ( In honor of Splat and Dave)  
  
"He'll only be replaced, unless we replace him." Nasedo nods and white light shines from the palm of his had, as he shape-shifts into Pierce. "The other agents are at an abandoned gas station in Hondo." Nasedo/ Pierce nodded.  
  
"Now that I'm the head of their Special Unit, we'll have all their resources. You'll be safe now." With one last glance at Max, he slid out of the chamber, completely ignoring the four humans. The four humans breathed an inward sigh of relief. Max grabbed the two orbs, handed one to Michael and Isabel and held the other, cusping his hands with Tess so that they were both touching the orb.  
  
"I want to know. Maybe if we just focus like Nasedo's always said."  
  
They concentrated. As they did the orbs shot out a beam of blue light that continued to combine into one beam that reached the ceiling of the chamber before spreading out thorught out the rooom and gatherin again at the center of the room where it formed into the shape of a woman.  
  
'If you are seeing me now it means that you are alive and well. I take this form because it will be familiar to you, and it will help you to understand what I am about to say. You have lived before. You perished in the conflict that enslaves our plaent but your essence was du[licated, cloned, and mixed with human genetic materials so that you might be recreated into human beings. My son, you were the beloved leader of our people. I have sent with you your young bride. My daughter, the man you were betrothed to, and your brother's second in command."  
  
"Oh my god Max. Our mother." Isabel galnced at Max, but could not bear to tear her gaze away from the woman who appeared before them. The woman continued.  
  
"Our enemies have comet to Earth. You will know them only by the evil within. Lear enough to use your skills, you knowledge, your leadership to combat the enemy so that you can come back and free us. An that I may once again hold you both in my arms. I live for that moment. Help us. I love you."  
  
"She's so beautiful," said Isabel.  
  
The four aliens stared at each other in wonder. The four humans also stared at each other; they too, had heard the message from Max and Isabel's mother, but they had also heard something else at the same time. Beside the image of Max and Isabel's mother that had spoken to the four aliens, another image of the same woman appeared next to the first, this one facing the four humans.  
  
"I have sent this message so that it may only be activated by the four Guardians of the Granolith. This message will only be heard by the Guardians. You are those four Guardians. You are hybrids like the Royal Four, but you were born rather than hatched from pods, so that none but your immediate protectors might know who you were. I have sent you this message because I fear the one I sent to the Royals has been tampered with. after the ship with the pods left for Earth, we discovered that there was a traitor who had caused the deaths of the Royals and was now on board the ship. After much debate, the council decided to send you to Earth, as well, but this time not in pods, but in wombs. By having a human parent, we were assured that your awareness would not awaken until all of you had connected to the Royals in some way. Protect the Royals, guide them, and when you find the traitor, destroy him or her. But above all protect the Granolith. You must not let our enemies get ahold of it. Either set of four may use the Granolith, but only by a truly joined effort by both groups may the true power of the Granolith be released. A fact our enemies do not know. One more thing before I go. What ever the other message may say, know that the Royals' marriages were politcal alliances only. No true romantic love was ever between them, only friendship or sibling bonding. The four truly loved.... others. Protect the four and help our people both home and on Earth, but look out for yourselves as well. Trust your protectors, they are loyal to me, I know this for a fact. I hope to see you again one day. Farewell." And the image faded.  
  
Back to the present:  
  
The four humans looked at the four aliens to see if they had heard any part of the other message. They hadn't.  
  
"I always knew there was something out there, but I had no idea how important it was."  
  
'If only you knew.' thought Maria. The others silently agreed.  
  
"Things will never be the same, but whatever happens, we have to stay together. It's the four of us now."  
  
'The same goes for us as well, but we have to keep an eye on them. They do have a tendency to get into trouble.' The others gave their assent to Liz's statement.  
  
"I knew this was meant to be." said Tess, based on what she had just heard.  
  
"No." Max turned away from Tess to Liz. "Look, everything I told you before is still true." Liz decided to play with the idea of destiny. 'Just for now, until we can figure out which one is the traitor.' The others sent their thoughts of sympathy at Liz's sacrifice. Liz took them whole heartedly, knowing the next few days were going to be extremely difficult.  
  
"Max, you do have a destiny. youjust heard it. I can't stand in the way of it." Max looked at Liz, his eyes tearing up at the thought of a life with out who he believed his soul mate to be.  
  
"But you mean everything to me." Liz smiled. And then kissed him, sheilding her most recent memories from Max's mind. She broke away.  
  
"Goodbye, Max."  
  
Liz looks at the others and as a group they leave the chamber and the confused aliens behind. Only to literally run into Jeff Parker on their way out.  
  
A/N Sorry for all the little side notes. Unless you know what they mean, just ignore them. Hope you liked it! 


	4. Huh?

Hi guys. I just got back from vacation yesterday, and my internet was down. So this was kind of the first chance I had to update. As I promised I do have a new chapter, but not two. Although Chapter Five will be coming very very shortly, I PROMISE. It's already being written, but it'll probably be a little shorter than usual. But oh well. I'm sorry about the second update. I couldn't concentrate, damn Cancun sun. Anyway here it is. Oh yeah. Thanks for all the great feedback. I'm so glad you like this story. This is my first so I was kind of afraid that no one would like it but I've gotten a lot of positive feedback so keep it coming and I'll keep writing. So here goes.  
  
Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything. I wish I did, but if I had, Alex would never have died, the whole Future Max thing would NOT have happened, and of course the annoying gerbil would not be evil, maybe even not exist but for this story she's kind of necessary.   
  
Chapter 4- Huh?  
  
The four humans froze in shock. What was Jeff doing here? They had seen him at the cafe when they had left earlier that morning. He must have followed them. But why? How much had he heard, if anything? There were toomany unknowns, so the four remained silent, waiting for Jeff to make the first move.  
  
Jeff regarded the four humans pensively for a few moments. Then he did something none of the humans would have expected. He knelt, bowing to them in a position of fealty.  
  
"I have long awaited the awakening of the Four Guardians. I swear to protect you with my life and I hope you will accept this oath as proof of my loyalty."  
  
The others continued to stare in shock, not having moved at all through Jeff's speech. Finaly Liz broke out of her stupor.  
  
"Dad?" Jeff gave a small smile.  
  
"Come on. Let's go somewhere a bit more private. I'm sure you four have a lot of questions.  
  
***  
  
Further out in the desert, Jeff sighed as he began. "So... What do you want to know?" The others had managed to overcome their initial shock, all but Liz (understandably).  
  
"So are you a shape shifter?" asked Alex.  
  
"No nor am I a skin." The other four gave him a blank look. "Your enemies, follower of Khivar, the tyrant. But I am from the smae plante as the Royals."  
  
"But you're completely alien, right? Not a hybrid like Tess and the others or..." Kyle couldn't yet group the four "humans" into the same category as the aliens.  
  
"No, no I'm not."  
  
"Oh My God! I'm part alien working for an alien in an alien themed restraunt. This is so too much! I need my cyprus oil. Where is it? Oh, I think I need to sit down." But even as these words came out of her mouth, Maria didn't sit down, but continued her pacing until Alex finally forced her to sit down.   
  
"The Royal's mother said that there had been four protectors. Who are the others.?" asked Alex having calmed Maria down somewhat.  
  
"They were Michelle Valenti, Felicia Whitman and Brian DeLuca." The other three humans looked up, only small amounts of suprise evident in their eyes. Maria glanced back down at the dirt.  
  
"So what happened to them?" she asked timidly.  
  
"They were killed by skins, in the line of duty, protecting you. It's how they would have wanted it, an honorable death. They didn't see you only as a job, the loved you as parents..." All three heads bowed, and Liz could see a single tear run down Maria's cheek. She suspected that Alex and Kyle's eyes were a bit cloudy as well. They sat in silence before Kyle looked up, his eyes with a slight red tint visible in them.  
  
"So who are these Guardian people, anyways? What do they do? I'm kind of confused. No, scratch that, I'm really confused."   
  
"You protect the Granolith and thus the Royals, and you can use some of the Granlith's power."  
  
"But why us? If the shape shifter was already their protector, why go through all the trouble to make four more hybrids just to protect the Royals?" asked Alex.  
  
Jeff hesitated slightly. "Well..." strated Jeff, but Liz interrupted him.  
  
"We were there weren't we?" The others looked at Liz. This was the first time she had spoken since outside the pod chamber. Some wires in her head must have been fried from the shock.  
  
"What?!?" Liz looked at each of her three companions in turn.  
  
"We have all of these memories that we thought had come form the Royals, but I've seen all th Royals in the memroies, often in the same place at the same time. So the memories can't hav come from the Royals." said Liz. The four looked at Jeff, hoping he would answer.  
  
"It's true. You were the Guardians at the time when the Roylas were killed. You died defending the Granolith just before the King, Zan, was killed. When the Royals were sent here the Granolith was sent with them"  
  
"But why send us later? If we were born we can't have been in the crash." remarked Alex.  
  
"There was some controversy over whether to recreate you and send you back or not."  
  
"Why the controversy though? If the Granolith and the Royals were here and we were supposed to protect them both, well, I'd think that would be a fairly straight forward answer." said Kyle.  
  
'This boy is not as unintelligent as the image he gives the rest of the wold appears to be. I can see what Lizzi saw in him, until she met Max....' Jeff thought.  
  
"Usually, when the Guardians become the Guardians, they cease to be individuals. They give up their name, relationships, etc. to be able to more effectivly guard the Granolith. And you four did exactly that ... at first. But then you became... involved with some people, and they helped you to rediscover your individulatiy." Suddenly everything clicked.  
  
"Oh..Oh...oh!" screamed Maria as she jumped to her feet. "The...Their mother said that those four had been involved with others besides the ones they were married to! We were supposed to have protected the Royals, so we must have been close them, and four and four, it works out perfectly, which means..."  
  
Liz too jumped up excitedly. "Which means that we were involved with the Royals romantically. That's why they split us up. They didn't want us to get involved with them again."  
  
Jeff smiled. "Yes, but the Queen Mother wanted her children to be happy, so she insited that you be sent along as well."  
  
"But why don't we have any memories of that?" asked Liz.  
  
"Those memories will be unlocked only if you bond with your significant other. The Queen Mother wanted her children to be happy, but she also wanted them to have a choice in the matter of their hearts."  
  
"But what about the Destiny Book?" asked Alex.  
  
"Destiny Book? What Destiny Book?" Jeff looked confused.  
  
Liz faced the other three. "If there is no Destiny Book., it's got to be one of the traitor's ploys. And since Nasedo and Tess knew about the Destiny Book before any one else did and were the ones who actually retrieved it, makes me even more convinced that one of them is the traitor." The four looked at Jeff.  
  
"I don't know. I never found out who the traitor was. No one was sure of anything, there was too much chaos... But let's get back to town before someone starts worrying, or getting suspicious. Lizzi, you want to ride with me?" Liz nodded at her father. "All right, we'll talk more later. Be careful." Liz held up her hand.  
  
"Wait, Kyle. When you get back to town, talk to your dad. Tell him the basics. We may need his help. Anything else you want to tell him is up to you." Kyle nodded, unable to voice his thanks.  
  
And with those final words, Maria, Alex and Kyle got into Maria's Jetta and Liz and Jeff got into Jeff's car and they headed back towards town, away from the pod chamber, the aliens and the place where their whole lives had changed... forever.  
  
Hope you liked it. 


	5. Conduiser

Disclaimer: As usual I don't own anything. Though I do wish I owned Jason Behr. yay.  
  
A/N Sorry this took so long to get. School stuff and it just didn't want to be written. I   
  
apologize ahead of time for the soap opera-iness that makes up this chapter as well as the   
  
shortness of this chapter. I had to get all of the OH MY GOD's out of the way. And I   
  
promise very soon we'll be getting back to our beloved aliens and their couples.  
  
Chapter Five- Conduiser (to drive)  
  
For the first five minutes o fthe drive, Liz and Jeff sat in without speaking. Finally   
  
Jeff broke the thickening silence.  
  
"Lizzi, sweetie, are you all right? You've been really quiet."  
  
"Of course I'm all right! Why wouldn't I be?!? I just found out that my father is   
  
an alien, that I'm some half-alien hybrid and that not only am I supposed to protect this   
  
royal family but somehow I'm supposed to save some planet that I don't even remember   
  
from an evil tyrant. It all sounds like a stupid sci-fi movie. So yeah, I'm just peachy." Jeff   
  
simply drove on, not reponding, trying to keep a balnk expression permanently fixed on   
  
his face, but Lix could see small signes of sadness in his eyes. Liz sat quietly for a few   
  
minutes, trying to collect herself. She look up at Jeff timidly.  
  
"Are you my father?"  
  
Jeff turned his head, looking at Liz and then turned his gaze back to the road.   
  
They drove forward a few yards and pulled off the road before Jeff finally answered Liz's   
  
question.  
  
"No... no I'm not. My brother was. I never had time for a family, at least that's   
  
what I thought. No duty, loyalty, my job came first. I was the king's second in command,   
  
Zan's father. I was a good soldier, but I failed in the end. Your father... Your father was   
  
one of the previous Guardians. It's been tradition in our family that the first born becomes   
  
the king's second in command, and the second born becomes a Guardian. Of course the   
  
Granolith chooses its own Guardians, but, it really seems to like our family, maybe   
  
something in our genes...?" before Jeff got lost in thought he mentally shook himself. He   
  
needed to get to the important points. "But when the second born were twins, we didn't   
  
know what was going to happen. We expected the Granolith to choose your brother since   
  
he was the first of you two to be born, but the Granolith chose both of you."  
  
Liz sat in silence for a few moments. "So who is it. Is it Alex of Kyle?" Please not   
  
Kyle, that would justbe too weird, please not Kyle, please not Kyle, please not Kyle! Liz   
  
chanted silently to herself.  
  
Jeff chuckeled to himself, seeing the conflict in her eyes. "Don't worry, it's Alex."  
  
"whoo.." Liz sighed. " Wait. Don't worry? You can read minds???" Liz's eyes   
  
grew large in horror of the numerous thoughts about Max that her father might have   
  
heard.  
  
"No! I raised you. I usually know what's going on in your head."  
  
Liz breathed antoher sigh of relief. "Thanks Dad." Jeff smiled when she said the   
  
word "dad." They sat in silence for the remainder of the car ride. When they finally   
  
reached the Crashdown, Liz brought up the question that had been floating around in her   
  
mind.  
  
"Do you know who the Royal Four are?" Jeff gave her a small smile.  
  
"Ketchup over the blood really was a good idea. Zan was alway a clever one.   
  
What Max did for you was foolhardy, but understandable. I have a feeling he recognized   
  
you on some level." Liz smiled at her dad.  
  
She climbed out of the car aw she thought about the information she had gained in   
  
the last half hour. What was she going to tell Alex? She went over the twin idea and the   
  
whole second born thing and something cliked.  
  
OH MY GOD! The exclamation blared through her mind.  
  
Maria, who had already started her shift, came rushing out of the cafe.  
  
"What is it chica? What's wrong?" Maria asked her friend hurriedly. Liz took no   
  
notice that Maria had heard her exclamation even though she hadn't actually said it out   
  
loud.  
  
"You're never going to believe this!" Liz grabbed Maria's hands as she excitedly   
  
explained to her friend what she had just learned. Jeff smiled as he got out of the car and   
  
went over to the front of the cafe to try to calm the girls down.   
  
Michael, also on his shift at the grill, had followed Maria to the front of the care   
  
when she had rusehed out. He watched the scene play out. suspicion shining in his eyes.  
  
"Now what's going on with them?" he asked himself. 


End file.
